As a Logic user since Logic 5 I think I am well placed to comment on this....
Soft synths first:
There are some excellent sounds within Logic, I have found myself writing tracks and deciding just to use the Logic sounds to write the track, then replace the sounds later on with other synths, however, the sounds are that good that I find myself keeping them as they are. Also, there is such a variety of stuff to plough through. The 'basic' synths such as the ES M, ES P nd ES E etc are OK, but these were the original Emagic synths. They are quite limited but you can get some decent sounds out of them.
ES 1 and ES 2 is where it starts to get a bit more interesting. ES 1 is great for vintage style sounds and bases, well that's what I use it for. ES 2 however, has a whole host of options and modulation routes. To be honest, I don't delve into these synths that much as despite everything I have said, and am about to say I'm not the greatest fan of mouse twiddling on soft synths. ES 2 has some excellent presets and there are a few bass sounds that I find myself gravitating to more than I wish to admit!
The EXS sampler is excellent and a doddle to use. I use this all the time, for both the built in samples but to load my own. I have it stacked with Spectrasonics Distorted Reality 1 & 2, Bizarre Guitar, Korg MiniPops, Eminent 310, Synthex and a load of my own samples. It's very easy to pick a sound and drop it into EXS. Again, this has some modulation possibilities but I tend not to use them. I usually just stick to a bit of ADSR and filtering.
Sculture is an excellent synth and the sounds that it produces can be beautifully simple or amazingly complex. You can draw modulation routes, like an XY pad only better. I have used this for a few lead sounds and they have such a clarity and bite to them. They cut through a mix easily. There are a few samey sounds that I have used quite a bit, I just love their clarity and sparkly nature.
Ultrabeat is a great drum synth and is really useful for getting a groove going, or to add interest as a secondary or third drum part. Apart from the usual suspects, this things has all kinds of analogesque bleeps and bubbles and some nice bass sounds too. The presets for this range from Paris Remix, 808/909, African, Asian, Euro, D'n'B. I have found myself using parts from a D'n'B loop in ambient music as every single sound/part can be muted and processed in a whole variety of ways. This is a very versatile sound box and is much more than just a drum machine. This and Sculpture were worth the upgrade cost alone.
Another little let of synths that I have used a lot are the GarageBand synths of which there are five main ones (Analog Basic, Swirl, Pad, Sync and Mono). These have some real hidden gems. Modulation and routing is at a minimum, generally with a bit of filtering or envelope stuff, but I have used these synths quite a bit.
Effects: Every base is covered here from simple EQ's to audio mangling maddness. You'll see from the Logic page on Apple's website what effects you get. Every song that I have ever written has been recorded and produced in Logic. I should point out that the best stuff is not online yet as it is being saved for an album release or two, so the track you can hear below are not of the best quality...Mostly due to online compression. A great feature are the preset chains which contain settings for hundreds of effects chains from simple enhancements and compressors to distorting the sound beyond all recognition. I'd be here all day if I went through them all, but if anyone has any specific questions I'll try to answer them!
Samples:
Distant Lights: This track is pretty much all Logic. The drums and noise effects are Ultrabeat, first leads and stabs are Bizarre Guitar, the strings and second lead is Logic ES 2 I think.
Grandfather Time: I have posted this track here a few times before, but here is a sound breakdown: The main string lead is Garageband Analog Basic with chorus and delay effects. The swirly pad is also from Analog Basic. The string pads are from EXS and the arpeggio that comes in half way through is also from Analog Basic with a bit of delay. The choirs are from EXS and Quasimidi Raven. The sounds quality is terrible, so you'll have to forgive that.
Bubble Trance: This track is pretty much all Logic sounds and effects if I remember rightly, all bass, leads, drums etc. Off the top of my head I can't remember parts exactly but it's all Logic, mostly EXS I think. http://www.myspace.com/pald3
Lost At Sea: Again, apart from the odd sound effect this track is ALL Logic sounds. The S&H effects are Sculpture. The sound effects in this one are from Distorted Reality and a JP8000. http://www.myspace.com/pald3
Hope this helps and Logic really is a totally self contained studio with pretty much every effect and sound covered, all at top quality as well - As you would expect. I suppose what's not been covered although still related are the thousands of Apple Loops that come bundled with Logic and Garageband. it would take quite a while to plough through this lot and I doubt that you would get bored any time soon. if you see the Apple Website, the ES 2 synth was used extensively on the new Lily Allen album. In fact, there are a quite a few sounds that pop up on the radio here and there...All courtesy of Logic. I can't speak highly enough of Logic and would not switch for a big clock.
One last thing I should point out, I am using Logic 8, I have not upgraded to Logic 9 yet with all that pedal board stuff.
Logic sounds are great, the only areas I've found that are lacking is the reverbs and compressors. I still use almost everything else. I think the whole suite is fantastic and offers great value, personally I don't think another DAW can compare.
Logic 9 is great as you can run it in 64-bit mode which is great if you're using a lot of sample-based instruments and memory can be an issue.
I should have been more clear, the Bizarre Guitar sounds are from the Spectrasonics library named 'Bizarre Guitar'. JMJ used this library on Metamorphoses and Aero.
Apul wrote:I should have been more clear, the Bizarre Guitar sounds are from the Spectrasonics library named 'Bizarre Guitar'. JMJ used this library on Metamorphoses and Aero.
Thanks. and i think older stuff form spectrasonics is also found omnisphere i must look thing mre closely.
No, I'm afraid that it's not...well, not that I've found anyway!
Distorted Reality and Distorted Reality 2 are not part of Omnisphere. However, some of the loops from them and Metamorphosis are included into Stylus RMX as part of the RMX expansion pack.
The same is true of Bizarre Guitar, if you want those sounds, then you need to buy the Bizarre Guitar sample library.
Liquid Grooves, another Spectrasonics library which JMJ used on C'est La Vie and GOL is also not included as standard, only as part of the RMX expansion pack.
